iPod Nano 5th Gen. “The Does-Everything iPod”

The iPod Nano 5th Generation is simply breathtaking, inside and out. With the latest model of the iPod nano family, Apple has incorporated many features consumers have been suggesting and discussing since the original iPod. The highlights of the latest and thinnest from Apple include the built in radio with live pause, pedometer, and the fantastic video camera. First, Apple has done it again giving the option between 9 vivid eye-catching colors, each painted onto a new type of aluminum that is glossy and lightweight. Not to mention that my new nano fits into a credit card slot in my wallet it is so thin! Also, the screen was made even larger making your video-viewing and gaming experiences even better.

Radio with Live-Pause:

This is one of those features iPod consumers have been wondering about for a while: what about a built in radio? Perhaps Apple couldn’t find a way to incorporate an antenna into an iPod while still allowing it to keep its ultra-slim body. But alas, they have found a way of using the headphones as the antenna. While it is great to have the option of listening to the radio, it unfortunately only works with the headphones plugged in, which means you cannot play the radio on the new built in speakers. Regardless of this turnoff, the radio has some appealing features of its own, like live pause. Live pause allows you to pause the song you are listening, and then return to finish the song: You basically have the ability to stop time. (Well, sort of). You can also tag a song you hear on the radio so you can purchase it later when synced up to iTunes. The built-in radio could certainly be modified, but for now is a great long-sought-for feature.

Pedometer:

I literally use this all the time. Each morning I stick my nano in my pocket and at the end of the day, sync it to iTunes, which automatically takes me to nike.com where I can see my progress. The pedometer actually works better than other pedometers I have used, and, of course, doubles as a ‘walkman’ so I can walk to a beat. This feature alone was a great turn-on for me when I was choosing a new iPod.

Video Camera:

Despite what people may think, the video camera is of near-impeccable quality (for such a small device, anyways). It is just as good, if not better than, the Flip Video camera from Cisco. Not to mention it comes cheaper and built in to a does-everything iPod. There are even cool effects you can apply to the video while recording. The only thing that frustrates me is the fact that here we have a camera built in, but there is no photo-taking option! Of course, there are ways to extract a shot from a video you took, but who wants to do all that work? Not me. The video camera is certainly a worthy feature to upgrade to, but is not used to its fullest.

In the end, Apple was able to mystify me once again in incorporating a large number of great, new features into the iPod Nano 5th Generation, and still make the device even slimmer and more beautiful. Finally, the price of the nano did not escalate one penny from the old version. The 8GB is available for $159.. a considerably cheap price considering the upgrades and Apple’s history. Honestly, companies like Creative, Microsoft, and Cisco should just give up; they will never beat Apple.